Steering shaft slip, 1970 Beetle

[7dnorth7]

Hi There,

Been trying to find an answer to this and through a bunch of searching, really haven't nailed it down. I'm hoping you fine folks can assist me.

I have a 1970 Beetle steering column in a Speedster kit car. Under a high force turn, such as at very low speed or a high velocity sideways bump, the steering wheel is relocated by about one tooth. However, this is not a spline slip at the wheel - it is a slip at the steering shaft above the coupler.

I got the cast coupler adapter cleaned up and rotary-brushed out the inside of the steering shaft just below the collapsible section.

So, the question. Does the hollow shaft [arrowed red in pic], just below the collapible section, have splines in it that mesh with the cast coupler splines? If so, then I think I may have found the problem as the inside of my steering shaft is smooth.

All help appreciated.

David

[volksworld]

no, no actual splines...it just relys on the ones on the coupler...you just need to tighten the clamp bolt more...original bolts had a 14mm head and were a 10.9 instead of an 8.8 (stronger bolt)....on daily drivers the problem is solved by the 2 pieces rusting together

[7dnorth7]

Thanks for the help! It's very tight [impact gun] and is better but it might be time to grab the welder.

David

[EnjoyNukaCola]

This just happened to me after replacing the steering shaft and taking it for a spin down the block. U-turn at the cul-de-sac and damn near soiled myself. THIS IS SKETCHY!
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"when i go to drive it i get to like 5-10 mph it is at high rpms and gets higher the faster i go when i shift up to second the rpms drop is this normal or what and this is my first vw please help"

[busman78]

Part 27, the stub should have a round relief machined into it, the shaft should have a relief cut in it, when the two are slipped together with the collar the bolt aligns them and when tightened there should not be any slip.

Sounds like when the steering shaft was cut for your Speedster the relief was cut off.

[simpsoncan2]

I'm having the same issue with my '73 Thing. I disassembled the steering shaft and the cut on the coupler has flat cut and not a ball mill cut to fit the contour of the bolt.

Coupler also had some high spots along with worn splines from the slipping. I haven't solved my issue yet and I am considering some options and pondering others. Has anyone added a second coupler an inch or so further up the shaft so the splines will have a clamp force in two locations?

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Jacob

[60ragtop]

It looks like all the splines are buggered, replace it, not a rare part.
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Rick
Certified Mechanic by the State of Michigan in 1977
ASA certified in 1987
Certified Hunter Wheel Alignment Master Technician 1986

[MarkBeetle]

Im having the same slipping problem and its very irritating and dangerous, tried at least 4 or 5 times tightening/ Roughing up inner and outer diameters to create more resistance for when its clamped. I bought a brand new Steering column for my 1970 beetle so I could fit a aftermarket Momo style adapter the adapter only fits 1974 or later smaller spline not the large spline that was fitted on 1969-1972 models. Ive had to file down so that the bolt could actually reach the flat and still had it slip (see photo). Ive gone through the bother of buying a brand new CSP clamp and official 10.9 high tensile bolt at great expense to be delivered from Germany to uk today and fitted and still it slips. The new CSP clamp is slightly larger than the stock original that its replaced and its very close to touching both sides as you can see in the picture. The next step I'm considering now is to file down the clamp so that its not nearly touching as seen in photos so i can tighten the bolt even more and also shimming between the bolting the spline shaft flat. If that doesn't work then a splined removable adapter male to female welded onto steering column.

[Dal Churchill]

I had the exact same thing. I knew I should throw new parts at it but put a "temporary" tack weld on it to hold until I could make an order. More than 10 years later the original parts and tack weld are still there working just fine!
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1974 Beetle. Bus/Porsche/Rover V8 (Buick 215ci) Baja. (Unfinished project)
1979 Beetle. 1641. Ex-Modern Day Luftwaffe Airfield Radio Car. (Daily driver)

[simpsoncan2]

I believe I solved my problem.

I cleaned the splines on mine and filed the damaged high points. When I reassembled everything, I made sure that the steering shaft only overlapped the splines on the coupler. I had to adjust my steering column to make this work. I believe, previously, the steering shaft was installed as far down on the coupler as possible. The shaft on the coupler is not splined all the way to the "T" of the coupler and I believe that there was not enough friction between the steering shaft and the un-splined shaft of the coupler (see silver ring around the shaft to the left of the tip of the red arrow). I also verified my clamp bolt was a higher load Grade 10 rated bolt and put some extra oomph on it. Once I made this adjustment, my slipping issue appears to be solved.

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Jacob